He Makana Ke Aloha
by Liloexp626
Summary: Stitch is dead. Lilo wonders why he gave up his life for her while she remembers all what happened. Read&Review! You'll find a huge surprise XD LxS oneshot


Okay, I wanted this to be updated before Christmas, but I got so many things to do that I didn't even have time to touch the computer. Well, Merry 'late' Christmas to all of you and I better say Happy New Year in case I'm not here by then. Enjoy this late Christmas present XD.

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_**HE MAKANA KE ALOHA**_

-No… this just must be a nightmare. I know he's not dead…

Lilo let her tears fall on her cheeks as she clutched the pillow of the spaceship's bed under her hands. The temperature inside the spaceship was comfortingly warm, but she could feel her skin as cold as ice. The impression of some minutes ago had been too strong for her to bear. Her forehead was covered with cold sweat and her hands were trembling, as well as her knees and arms. She could still feel the chills running down her spine. She had even forgotten her wounded arm.

"_Why this all had to happen?"_ she thought. Her knuckles turned white as she gripped more the pillow. _"A couple of hours ago, everything was normal, and after those two hours, he's dead."_

Her mind ran back to the beginning of it all. She could see herself again in the beach, doing nothing… just doing nothing but spending time with Stitch and enjoying his company.

_**FLASHBACK**_

_-Aggaba! —Stitch cried as Lilo sprayed him with the warm sea water. Lilo shouted in surprise as she felt the balloon hitting her back and letting out some water on her skin and swimming suit, and she dropped to the sand._

_She lifted the plastic bottle and then sprayed Stitch again, but Stitch dodged the shot and jumped on top of her, totally pinning her to the ground. The fourteen-year-old teenager struggled against her friend, but he wouldn't let her get to her feet. He even took the bottle from her hand and tossed it away, trying to make sure that she wouldn't use it again to spray him. Then he lifted another balloon above her face. Lilo's eyes widened in horror:_

_-Stitch! Don't you dare to…! (splash!)_

_Stitch laughed as the water splashed against the face of his friend._

_-Oh, so you think this was so funny, huh? —Lilo frowned at him and then she turned her body swiftly to pin him to the sandy ground. Stitch gasped when he felt his feet being grabbed by his friend. He knew what was going to happen next, and he struggled to stop the girl, but she supported her body against his so he could have no chance to escape. Then the torture started._

_-No! Please, stop Lilo! I…—was all what Stitch could say before bursting in laughter at the sensation of his feet being tickled. He had spoken in Turian, but since Lilo had learned pretty enough Turian she could understand perfectly whenever he spoke to her in Turian. Lilo smirked as she observed Stitch's skin getting magenta under his fur._

_-So, don't you think this is funny as well? —she spoke to him in Turian —isn't funny to look how your skin turns pink?_

_-It's not pink! It's magenta, and you are so…—Stitch tried to speak again, but as soon as he lifted his head to look at Lilo, his feet started to be tickled again by Lilo. He let out again his loud laughs, his lungs and stomach starting to sting because of the lack of air and the constant laughter. They were playing yet for quite a long time until they got hungry and had to go home. Lilo thought on changing her swimsuit until they got home, but she felt a bit lazy about it and decided to change her clothes on a near lobby while Stitch went to buy some ice cream to distract their hunger until they got home. If only he had stayed with her…_

_As soon as Lilo finished changing, she went out. She noticed that Stitch was still buying their ice creams, and decided to wait for him instead of going to catch him up. She sat on the sand and waited for him. She closed her eyes, feeling the soft breeze drying her ebony hair and enjoying the warm sunbeams falling on her tan face. Suddenly, she felt two furry paws covering her eyes. She smiled._

_-Hey! P__lease stop this and let's have our ice creams, okay?_

_-No thanks… I'm not hungry —a cold voice replied in Turian._

_Lilo felt a cold chill run down her spine as she heard that harsh voice instead of Stitch's. She recognized it immediately as Leroy's voice and tried to scream, but Leroy covered her mouth and eyes quickly as he started to drag her to another place. However, while Stitch paid the ice creams, he heard Lilo's muffled cries. He forgot about the ice creams and paying them and rushed to where he had heard Lilo's cry, worrying about his friend._

_-Lilo! —he called her, but no response. He stuck his nose to the ground, looking for her aroma. When he caught her scent, he caught as well another one very well known for him, but couldn't believe it. He was supposed to be in jail… wasn't he?_

_He ran off as fast as he could, always following the two scents and some of the foot prints on the sand. Finally, after several seconds of a frantic search, he made out Leroy, dragging Lilo to a little black spaceship._

_-Leroy! —Stitch growled. Leroy turned his head and saw Stitch. He snarled at him, but after some seconds, he managed to mock a smile._

_-Oh, hello, 626… or shall I call you just Stitch? Hope you don't mind if we take your little friend out for a while. It will be quick. Don't worry; we won't let anything bad happen to her —Leroy smirked as he held Lilo by the waist —by the way, have you noticed how pretty she has become? That's another reason to take a good care of her… don't you think so?_

_Lilo shivered as she felt something wet and slippery touching her ear. Soon, she realized it was Leroy's tongue. She felt sickened. It didn't felt like when Stitch licked her, because he always did that to show his affection for her, but with Leroy it was different. It made her feel uncomfortable. She didn't like to feel his tongue running across the skin of her cheek nor her ear, but she couldn't do anything to help it. If she ever tried to escape from his grip, she would probably be digging her grave. Most likely he was doing that to make Stitch angry, and in fact, now he was more than just angry._

_-Let go of her, Leroy! —Stitch growled warningly —she has not done anything to you, so don't even lay a finger on her unless you want to receive a very painful lesson!_

_-Tsk, tsk, tsk… Stitch, what's the big deal? We're 'cousins', remember? —Leroy tried to hide the hatred on his voice, not succeeding at all —or maybe you want us to teach you a lesson as well?_

_It was then that Lilo realized about it. Who was 'us'…? Something wasn't totally right. She then realized of how many times Leroy had used the word 'we' instead of just 'me' or 'I'… however, Stitch didn't seem to notice. He was too blinded by anger to just notice what she had just noticed._

_-Let her go, Leroy! That's my last warning! —Stitch snarled again, preparing to hurl against Leroy at any moment._

_-Please, cool off__! All we want is to have some fun with your little girlfriend —Leroy smirked again. _

_Lilo almost gasped. Had Leroy just said that she was Stitch's boojibu or she had mistaken the word while trying to translate it? She could swear that was the word, because just after Leroy spoke, Stitch's skin turned into a light magenta under the fur of his cheeks, though she didn't know if he was blushing because he was getting really angry or because another reason… a too obvious one for her to accept it.__ He had just broken up with Angel. How could he possibly fall in love again so soon? She couldn't help it, but those thoughts made her blush as well. That reaction from Stitch had brought a funny feeling inside her heart, and she couldn't help but smile a bit with shyness. She liked that feeling, after all._

_-She's not my girlfriend… she's just my friend —Stitch hardly spoke those words. He seemed as if he had been about to stutter when he spoke, but managed hardly not to do so. Lilo felt a sting of slight disappointment, but after all that was true. They were nothing but friends._

_-Whatever… she's a very close person to you, anyway. That's just what I need… —Leroy started to drag Lilo again and then threw her inside the spaceship._

_-Stitch! Help! —Lilo screamed just before Leroy entered the spaceship as well and slapped her on the face to make her shut up. That got it out of Stitch. He roared furiously and then hurled against the spaceship, but right before his fist reached Leroy, a strong force threw him away. He felt a burning pain on his cheek, and then he got up to look bewildered for the one that attacked him. The breath left his body when he saw 627 standing on the entrance of the little spaceship._

_-627? But how did you manage to activate him? —Stitch asked in awe to no one in particular as he rubbed the pained spot._

_-That's not the matter. If you ever want to see this dear friend of yours, you've got to go after us… before this orange buddy gets bored and wants to make some fun of her as a punching bag —Leroy scoffed a last time before the spaceship's sluice closed completely and lifted in the air._

_-LILO! —Stitch screamed in terror as he watched the spaceship leaving the Earth atmosphere behind. What were they going to do? Had Hamsterviel sent those two after Lilo or what the blitznac had happened? After of some seconds of complete shock and terror, Stitch managed to rush to the old Pelekai house to get a spaceship and some help._

_One hour later__, two certain evil experiments were celebrating over their future revenge on Stitch:_

_-627, this is the best revenge we could have ever done on that weakling 626!_

_-Evil, evil, EVIL! —627 agreed as a malicious gleam got to his eyes._

_-Don't cry out victory yet, Leroy! Stitch's gonna kick your butts so hard that you'll need Jumba to fix them so you can sit down again! —Lilo shouted angrily at the red experiment. Leroy turned his face to her and growled dangerously. Lilo immediately regretted she had ever talked._

_-And what makes you have so much faith on that weakling? Come on, even you know he doesn't stand a chance against us… if not against me, then against him —he pointed at 627 —you'll see, we're not precisely very happy after of all the ridicule things he made us go through… so we're gonna give him back the favor._

_-Stitch can defeat 627 easily because of that weakness he's got! Anyway… what are you three going to do?—Lilo asked, some fear starting to show on her voice._

_-We three? What the blitznac are you talking about, foolish girl? —Leroy said harshly, pretending he didn't know what she was talking about._

_-You, 627 and Hamsterviel —Lilo replied, every second getting more scared._

_-Hamsterviel? Hamsterviel, Hamsterviel… oh yeah, I remember…after we escaped from jail, we killed him off —Leroy replied coldly, like if he had said nothing really important. Lilo's eyes widened in horror as he continued to talk with such tranquility — why to follow the orders of an inferior being when we can make our own rules? He was only a pain on the butt. He would have obstructed all of our plans if we let him alive, so we got rid of him… as well as we're going to do with 626 and you —he added at last with such a dark voice that it could have freaked out even Cobra Bubbles, but Lilo didn't allow herself to show fear. She wasn't going to give them the pleasure of seeing fear on her eyes now nor ever._

_-Oh, another little, insignificant detail. N__ow that 627's weakness is gone, your little weak friend won't have even a chance to defeat us —Leroy continued, seeing how Lilo remained silent. He got frustrated when he saw no fear on her eyes, so he just walked away angrily and kicking out of the way anything interposing. It was until Leroy was gone that Lilo let the tears run freely down her cheeks. What was going to happen now? How could they ever get rid of 627's weakness? And over all… how was Stitch going to get out of this? She hugged her knees and cried on her arms for what seemed a long time. There hadn't passed even ten minutes when the whole spaceship shook violently. She lifted rapidly her head to watch through the hatchway, and what she saw brought both relief and fear. There was the huge red spaceship she knew so well… Jumba and Pleakley's spaceship. _

_-Oh, look who has just arrived to join our little party… —Leroy stepped in the room and then looked through the hatchway as well. __He smirked evilly as some unknown thought crossed his mind —let's give them a good welcome… 627! We've got some company!_

_-Evil, evil!!! —627 laughed and then went to another room._

_-And you…—Leroy took Lilo's chin and made her look at him on the eyes —wait here until your boyfriend comes to rescue you. I'm sure he'll be glad to see you again —he muttered viciously._

_-He's not my…! —Lilo started, but Leroy was gone —…boyfriend._

_Again, the thought of Stitch being somebody more than just a friend brought that funny feeling, but she stopped it, just as she had done several times before through the last three years. Instead, she tried to focus her mind in other subject… like the spaceship outside, for example. She gasped as she snapped back to reality. Stitch had come back for her, but…would they get out of this, even after all of the things Leroy had said so sure of himself?_

_She didn't have too long to dwell on it, though. Her thoughts and worries were shut off as she watched the main sluice of the ship getting open and Stitch entering the room with Jumba and Pleackley… but her eyes just stayed on Stitch, looking so strong and brave as always… strong and brave for her._

_Stitch's eyes immediately fell on Lilo. He rushed to her side to break the cold handcuffs, binding her wrists securely. After some minutes of struggling with them, he finally managed to break Lilo's hands free, which pulled Stitch into an embrace as soon as they were free. Stitch smiled thankful as he returned the loving hug, stroking Lilo's shoulders and running his hands up and down her back, and then he kissed her nose. Lilo pushed him away slightly to look at him dazed. He had never kissed her, not even on the cheek… he must have been really worried about her. Her thoughts were confirmed as she observed the tears of relieve that his eyes let out. They weren't too many, but she had hardly seen him crying…_

_-Lilo, you okay? —he finally asked, after a while —Naga hurt? Naga wounded? Naga…?_

_-I'm… I'm okay, Stitch. Everything is fine… —she said, and then Stitch pulled her once more into his arms —everything is fine…_

_-Aww, isn't this such a beautiful scene?_

_The two friends pulled away to see Leroy glaring at them from one of the corners of the huge room, a mocking smile spreading on his lips. Then Lilo felt Stitch's arms momentarily tightening around her, as if fearing loosing her again. Lilo then stroked his hand comfortingly, trying to soothe him, and then Stitch gathered enough courage to stand up and let Lilo alone to face Leroy._

_-What do you want, Leroy? —Stitch growled viciously as he glared at Leroy._

_-I just want to pay back a little favor you did to me, 626…WE both want to pay it back…_

_Just as Leroy had said it, 627 emerged from the darkness, looking more sinister and evil than ever. Both Leroy and 627 laughed almost maniacally as they started closing the space between them and Stitch. Lilo looked terrified at the scene. She wasn't so sure if Stitch would defeat Leroy, and she was even less sure about 627._

_Stitch could clearly feel how the fear gathered inside of him, but not fear of fighting against 627 or Leroy, but fear of them hurting Lilo and maybe even killing her. His eyes were narrowed dangerously, holding a look of warning on them, and all of his alien features were out now. With no warning, Leroy hurled against Stitch and tackled him to the ground, and then both started to fight each other._

_627 was about to join the fight, but then he saw Lilo. She felt a cold chill run down her spine as he glanced at her that way: with hatred and loathe on his eyes. She almost screamed, but kept herself as calm as possible, though she had already started to back up._

_-Little Girl, make 627 laugh at something! —she heard Jumba's voice advising her._

_-I can't! —Lilo replied— his weakness is gone! Hamsterviel deactivated it!_

_-And where is Hamsterviel? —Pleakley asked._

_-He's… he's dead. Leroy killed… —Lilo couldn't finish as 627 flung at her and tackled the girl to the cold steel floor, taking advantage of her momentary distraction. She screamed in surprise and fear as she felt the heavy weight on her abdomen. She tried to stand up, but 627 was stronger than Lilo, so he could keep her pinned down. Lilo felt her lungs going empty as his weight crushed her slowly. Now she could barely breathe. She couldn't ask for help either now._

_627 looked down at her mockingly. He enjoyed seeing the fear in Lilo's eyes, and he liked to watch how she started to remain breathless slowly. Just when Lilo thought she was going to pass out, a blue blur came from nowhere and threw 627 away with such force that he went flying against the closest wall and almost tore it apart._

_Lilo felt herself being lifted from the cold steel floor and then she opened her eyes as she felt the soft touch of a hand caressing her cheek. She was greeted by Stitch's smile then, and she couldn't help to smile back at him._

_-Lilo__ okay? —Stitch asked worriedly. Lilo nodded._

_-Yeah, I guess I'm--_

_All of sudden, both Stitch and Lilo were thrown away violently as 627 hurled against them. Stitch reacted quickly, interposing between Lilo and the approaching wall. He made it in time just before they hit it, and Lilo, instead of hitting the wall, hit against Stitch's abdomen, and then both fell to the floor. Without loosing a single second, Stitch stood up and then stroke back at 627, and then both started to fight each other fiercely, but 627 always ended up tackling Stitch or throwing him away._

_It was then that Lilo realized that Stitch had been trying to make 627 laugh, so she called his name loudly and then advised him that 627's weakness was gone. Stitch shivered at hearing this. That meant that this time it would be a lot harder to defeat him, and honestly, he had no idea of how he was going to overpower 627 this time… he wasn't even sure if he would make it._

_Lilo watched then how Stitch stood up several times and then ended up falling again, keeping the hope that he would find a way to overcome 627 and beat him up, but it was always the same: Stitch hurled against 627 and the only thing the orange experiment did was reaching out his hands to slam Stitch on the face with them. Unfortunately, Lilo was so absorbed on watching the fight that she forgot that 627 wasn't the only one fighting there. _

_Quiet feet approached her from behind as she continued to watch the vicious battle, and then, without any advise, a tough hand lifted her from the ground and then, before she knew what had happened, Leroy had her locked in his arms, preventing her from escaping._

_-Did you think that your dear Stitch would defeat 627 with no problem? —he said mockingly as he covered her mouth and pointed to the fighters —Well, I don't think so, my dear…_

_Much to Lilo's horror, she observed how 627climbed on top of Stitch and punched him steadily on his face. Lilo's main fear wasn't that he punched Stitch, but what scared her was that when Stitch managed to throw 627 apart, she could see by first time on her life what his blood looked like: it was a magenta thick liquid, oozing out from his nostrils and his lower lip. Stitch reached his hand to his mouth and nose, and it was a huge surprise and shock to him as well to see his own blood covering the back of his hand._

_-STITCH! —Lilo cried out while Leroy uncovered her mouth distractedly. Then Stitch turned his head to see Leroy holding Lilo with a dangerous look on his face, a look that told Stitch that Leroy would kill Lilo at any moment._

_-Aggaba, Leroy! —Stitch managed to yell out at the red experiment. Obliviously to him, a hint of pleading went out with his angered voice when he yelled. Leroy noticed it. Then he got an idea… a real, perfect idea of how he would get his revenge on Stitch and get rid of the girl at the same time._

_-Why? Tell me a good reason to keep the life of this Earth girl, 626, and then maybe I'll let her go!_

_-What do you want in return for her? —Stitch asked eagerly, catching quickly on what Leroy was leading to._

_-I want your life in return, 626…—Leroy replied darkly._

_Life went out of Stitch's body when he heard that.__ It was he or Lilo, but it seemed like if it was impossible that both of them went out of there alive._

_Lilo felt herself going weak beyond measure as she heard those words too. She knew that Leroy was being serious. He wasn't going to let both of them go out of there without killing one at least. She looked at Stitch pleadingly. _"Please Stitch, don't accept it…don't do this…" _she pleaded on her mind, hoping that Stitch caught on what she was trying to say with her eyes. Stitch looked at Leroy blankly and then looked at Lilo. Even though anyone would have thought that he was looking blankly at them, Lilo could see that Stitch was having a fight inside._

_-Let Lilo go… Stitch takes her place —Stitch finally said. Lilo gasped._

_-No! Stitch, please don't do this! We can make it out of here together! —Lilo cried out as her voice started to crack. Stitch looked sadly at her._

_-Stitch sorry, Lilo… —he said, his voice starting to crack as well. Leroy then threw Lilo apart. She fell on the floor and then looked up at them. 627 had been watching the whole while. A huge smirk was now spreading on both 627 and Leroy's lips._

_-Don't even try to give any resistance, 626… or she will pay the consequences —Leroy warned as he pointed down at Lilo, still laying tearful on the floor —627… get rid of him._

_627 hadn't had to be told twice what to do. In a split of second, he had already assaulted and tackled Stitch. Lilo expected Stitch to defend himself, but the most he did was groan and cry in pain whenever 627 shoot a hit at him. Soon, Stitch was bleeding everywhere, and he wasn't opposing any resistance yet. Lilo cried painfully as she watched her friend being beaten up with such brutality, but she couldn't do anything. Since 627 had started to make Stitch bleed everywhere, Leroy had taken hold of her so she wouldn't interpose on the way. After several minutes of agony, when Stitch finally seemed to be between life and death, Leroy ordered 627 to stop. At first, 627 didn't want to stop, but then something on Leroy's eyes told him he was planning something great, and he stopped. Leroy approached Stitch, who was now breathing hardly, and then he lifted him carelessly by the neck._

_-You're such a foolish, 626… you thought that by giving up your life we would actually let your Earth pet alive? Well, guess what? I have decided that I want to kill her too. Your sacrifice was to no avail…_

_-That's not fair… —Stitch tried to growl, but he was practically drowning now on his own blood, so his words went out like a painful whisper —you said that you'd let her alive if I gave up my life for her… _

_-I never said such a thing. I said that if you gave me a good reason to let her alive, then __MAYBE__ I'd let her live… but I won't. Goodbye, 626. Stupid head —he murmured at last as his hand dropped Stitch on the cold floor and then walked to Lilo. He took a blaster out of nowhere and then aimed at her head —Say goodbye to your boyfriend, Earth girl…_

_Lilo closed her eyes, and then she heard the sound of the shot. However, she didn't feel anything. She opened her eyes and what she saw made her scream in surprise. That dying Stitch she had seen some seconds ago was now fighting fiercely Leroy to protect her, and the shot that he had aimed at her had gone somewhere else. Even though Stitch was badly hurt, he could fight Leroy and even make open his flesh and cause some blood ooze from his wounds. Then 627 joined the fight as well, and that was when things got real hard for Stitch. 627 had no wounds, Leroy had several, but Stitch had his body full of them, and even so he tried to fight the two evil experiments with all of his might._

_-Lilo! —she heard a familiar voice calling her. She turned her head and was relieved to see Pleakley showing up with Jumba._

_-Jumba! Pleakley! They're gonna kill Stitch! —Lilo cried desperate as she approached the two aliens. Jumba looked at the vicious fight._

_-We are to hurry before 626 gets damaged beyond of reparation! —he shouted —over all, we have to stop 627… he's the one doing more damage to 626._

_-But how are we going to do that? —Lilo questioned —I told you that his weakness was gone because Hamstervil deactivated it!_

_-Yes, Little Girl, I am knowing of that, but Hamsterviel was never smart enough to completely neutralize 627's weakness… he only retained it, but never got rid of it._

_-So that means that…_

_-Yes! We can re-activate it, and then 627 will have again his super-sense of humor. But we have to hurry!_

_-How do we activate it again? —Lilo asked anxiously._

_-Hamsterviel only placed retainer plate on 627's neuronal system, but he didn't choose one of the good ones. The one that 627 is using right now to retain his neuronal impulses related to the laughs can be easily knocked off. He only needs a very, very strong hit on his head so the plate falls apart and then KABOOM! His weakness is back! _

_Lilo looked around quickly, and then her eyes caught the sight of the gun that Leroy had tried to use to shoot at her —Jumba, do you think that if we shoot at 627's head, the hit would be strong enough to make the plate fall?_

_After some seconds of thinking about it, Jumba nodded —yes, it would be. But the further you are from 627, the stronger the hit will be. You must do a large shot, Little Girl… be careful._

_Lilo nodded. She lifted the gun and then aimed at 627. It would be hard to hit him… she didn't care if she hit Leroy too, but she cared and was worried about Stitch. She didn't want to hurt him even more. She took a long breath, and the pressed the trigger. Either she had a very good aiming or she had a lot of luck, because 627 got right in the way of the plasma shot and then it hit him. 627 moaned in pain as he held his head on his hands, but after a few seconds, he only shook his head and decided to enter the fight again. Lilo sighed in dismay:_

_-Jumba, I think it didn't work…_

_She had just said it when Stitch punched Leroy on the nose, and then he went flying against some controls stuck on the wall. When Leroy went out of that heap of wrecked metal some of, the wires that had been inside the controls were on his head as a wig. That seemed to be hilarious to 627, because as soon as he saw Leroy, he started to laugh hysterically at him as he held his stomach._

_-Shut up, you big buzz! We've got to kill him! —Leroy roared at 627, but he continued to laugh in hysterical laughs. Taking advantage of 627's distraction and Leroy's momentary efforts to break free from the wires, Lilo rushed to Stitch's side. He was even weaker now, and the magenta blood was covering most of his face and body. Lilo was afraid that if she tried to lift Stitch and carry him, she would inflict more pain to her friend, but she knew that she had to do so if she wanted to save him._

_-L…Lilo —Stitch spoke weakly as he noticed the presence of Lilo. Lilo put a finger on his lips to make him silent._

_-Don't waste any more energy, Stitch… I've got to take you out of here —she said as she finally lifted him from the floor carefully. Stitch moaned in pain as she did so. She felt like crying when she heard his moans of pain and suffering, but she didn't stop running to the main sluice, where Jumba and Pleakley were already awaiting for them. Just when she thought that everything was over and that they were finally escaping, a shot was heard and she felt a burning pain on her right arm and then she felt another shot on her left leg. She fell to the floor with Stitch on her arms still, and then looked down at her arm. She saw her own crimson blood getting mixed up on her shirt with the magenta blood of Stitch._

_-Jumba, Pleakley, help! —she shouted, but she didn't really need to shout at them. Pleakley had already taken Stitch on his arms and Jumba carried her. There were more shots, but none of them hit any of them. _

_Leroy had already got rid of his wires, but when he aimed at the aliens to make a last shot, the entire spaceship trembled, and all of sudden, several policemen entered the room and aimed at both 627 and Leroy._

_-In the name of the Galactic Council, experiment 627 and 629, you are under arrest! —one of the dinosaur-like polices said in an authoritarian voice. 627 was still laughing at Leroy, so there wasn't any problem on catching him and dehydrating him into a pod. One of the officers gave Jumba the pod._

_-Doctor Jumba Jookiba, make sure this pod is never activated again —he said in a severe voice. Jumba nodded._

_-And what about Le-- err, I mean, 629? —Jumba asked to the police._

_-He will be dehydrated as well and put in jail in a maxim security cell. As for 627 we don't know what to do, we give him to you to do what you think it's the best._

_They would have gone on longer talking about 627 and Leroy, but then a terrified scream got their full attention._

_-JUMBA! STITCH'S NOT BREATHING! —Lilo shouted in angst as she cried in fear. Jumba then looked at Stitch. The shot Leroy had done at Lilo's arm had reached Stitch too, because he could see a hideous gash oh his neck. Then he rushed to their sides. Stitch's chest wasn't rising anymore. Fearful, Jumba leaned his head over Stitch's bloody chest and tried to listen at any beat of his heart. Fortunately and alarmingly too, he could barely hear a very faint and slow beat coming from his chest._

_-626 is needing immediate attention! Hurry! If we don't get him to the spaceship soon, we'll loose him! —Jumba advised. Pleakley lifted once more the bloody body and Jumba carried Lilo to the spaceship._

_-Stitch, please don't leave me… —Lilo whispered as she cried silently, looking at an unmoving Stitch —Ohana means family, remember? And your family never gets left behind or forgotten… don't leave me behind…_

_Stitch never opened his eyes again, though. Lilo hoped he could hear her, but she feared the imminent fact that Stitch would die… or maybe he was already dead._

_**FLASHBACK ENDS**_

Lilo couldn't help to let a sob escape her lips. She was troubled beyond measure for Stitch, and even though Jumba had told her that there was still a chance for Stitch to make it, she thought that he was already dead. If not, then why he hadn't opened his eyes when she talked to him? Why she had felt his grip loosen on her hand? And why she couldn't hear anymore the beat of his heart when Jumba had placed him on the other bed?

She sobbed a bit louder. She didn't want to believe it. Now she wished she had stayed on the same room where Stitch was right now, but Jumba had asked Pleakley to take her out of there and take her to the other room. Right before the door closed behind Pleakley, she had managed to see Jumba giving Stitch electroshocks on his chest to revive him. She knew that by then his heart had stopped, and he wasn't responding to the electroshocks. He was dead…dead… DEAD!

-Why, Stitch? If you hadn't listened to Leroy, you wouldn't have been so weak when you fought him and 627… it's all my fault. If I had been more alert at that moment, Leroy wouldn't have taken any hold of me and you wouldn't be… dead. IT'S MY FAULT! —she cried in pain as she buried her face on the fluffy pillow. She missed Stitch. She wanted him back. She wanted to feel again his affectionate touch. She wanted him to wrap his arms around her. She wanted to hear his laugh. She wanted to hear his voice, telling her that everything was going to be okay… she wanted him to kiss her nose again as he did on the spaceship. She sobbed louder against the pillow. After several minutes of crying inconsolably, she felt her eyelids getting heavier. She was exhausted. Finally, she fell in a troubled sleep. Even though she wasn't crying anymore, she felt her heart broken inside. Even in her sleep, she continued to sob, and the tears continued to fall on the snowy pillow.

After two hours of sleeping, she finally woke up. She felt immediately the pain on her right arm, and when she looked at it, she saw the opened flesh. She remembered everything in a split of second. Her left leg ached a lot too, but she didn't care about it. She sat up on the bed slowly, put her sandals on and started to walk to the room where she knew Stitch was. She had to be with him as long as possible before they buried him. She walked by a long corridor. She had to support her weight on the wall so she wouldn't stumble. She passed Jumba and Pleakley, sleeping on two separated seats of the ship.

Finally, she reached the entrance of the room. She reached out her hand and opened it. Inside, there was Stitch with several bandages wrapped around his arms, torso, legs and some on his head. It reminded Lilo of the times when they used to play Wasp Mummies at home. No machine was connected to him. It was a clear proof that he wasn't alive. She limped to his bed and then got on her knees to the level of the bed. She took his hand on hers. To her surprise, it was still warm, and not as cold as she thought it would be. Maybe she had slept for only some minutes and not by two hours as she had thought. She held his hand for a few minutes, silent, and then she spoke more to herself than to Stitch.

-Stitch… —she sobbed as she caressed his lifeless hand — why did you do it? It was obvious that Leroy wanted to kill me too. Why did you give your life for me, if he was going to kill me anyway? —she couldn't speak anymore as the sobs became stronger than her. She buried her face on the soft mattress and started to cry again, still holding Stitch's hand.

-He… makana… ke…aloha…

Lilo's heart jolted inside of her as she heard that soft voice she knew so well. Totally in disbelief, thinking that she must had heard a voice in her head, she lifted her head to look at Stitch, expecting to see his lifeless body lying on the bed. She had just lifted her head when without any warning she felt something soft and furry landing on her lips. She was shocked to see that Stitch wasn't dead as she thought at first, and she got even more shocked when she realized that he wasn't only alive, but he was kissing her too. The hand that she had thought lifeless was now behind her head, holding her close to him, while the other one was caressing her cheek affectionately and even lovingly. Her heart stopped in that very moment. She didn't remember of her harmed arm or her wounded leg. All what she did was kiss him back, letting out all of her bottled up feelings for Stitch, and ignoring the pain of her arm, she reached out both of her arms to pull him closer to her and hold him, overwhelmed by the joy of having him back. Their lips danced together, touching softly for what seemed to be an eternity, neither of them wanting to break the moment. Their emotions were so strong that their lips trembled as they kissed, Lilo relieved of having him back and Stitch overwhelmed by letting out all of his feelings for her. Finally, they had to pull away, slowly, still holding the other. They had just pulled away when Lilo pulled Stitch into an embrace as she cried tears of sheer happiness:

-You're alive! I thought that you were dead! Oh, Stitch… I'm so… I'm so thankful…

-Not so easy… to get rid… of Stitch —Stitch joked as he smiled—ouch! Isa hurts!

-Uh, sorry Stitch —Lilo said as she let go of him, and then she gave him a loving smile —I thought that I had lost you. I was so afraid…

-But now… Stitch is back. Naga worry, boojibu —Stitch said, blushing slightly. Lilo then realized of how they had just kissed and how he called her. She lowered her eyes slightly, trying to hide her flushed cheeks. Ignoring the pain in all of his body, Stitch sat up on his bed and grabbed one of her hands —you okie-dokie? Naga hurt?

Lilo lifted slightly her eyes to look at him —if by okay you mean a shot on an arm and a leg, then I'm fine…—she chuckled a bit —with you here, then I'm perfectly fine… —she hesitated a bit, then continued —my boojibu.

Stitch then beamed at her and kissed her again lovingly for a brief moment. Lilo smirked a bit —seems like you and Angel had done this a lot of times before. You kiss very well.

-Naga. Lilo… first girl… Stitch kiss. Angel and Stitch… only lick. Never kissed. —he replied, and then smirked back at her —Lilo should be proud.

-Oh, really? Now I'm really flattered, mister Stitchy-Witchy-Poo.

Stitch growled a bit and crossed his arms angrily —Lilo knows Stitch no like that name! Hmph!

-Yeah, but I know something that you might like —Lilo said as she sat on the bed, leaned on and kissed Stitch. She pulled away quickly, blushing.

-So, where does this leave us? —she asked.

-Lilo… want to be… Stitch's boojibu? Please? —Stitch said, trying to move closer to Lilo.

-You know, Jumba and Nani won't like this —Lilo said. Stitch dropped his ears sadly, but Lilo continued talking —but who cares about Jumba and Nani? It's all about us… I don't really care if people don't like this. What I care about is being with you, Stitch. I love you, and yes, I want to be your boojibu.

-Stitch loves Lilo too… very, very much —Stitch replied, immediately perking his ears again, then he yawned —but Stitch tired too. Stitch going to sleep.

Stitch yawned once more and then lay on the bed, covering himself with the blanket and closing his eyes to sleep. Then, to his surprise, he felt the blanket being slightly lifted and then opened his eyes to see Lilo entering the bed too.

-Lilo naga going to bed? —he asked confused. Lilo wrapped her arms around him and kissed his nose.

-I AM going to bed, Stitch… come on, let's have some sleep.

Stitch smiled a bit and wrapped his arms around her too, holding her close to him. Lilo sighed in bliss. She never imagined that she would actually end up with Stitch, but after giving it some thought, she concluded that it was logical after all. They knew each other from almost all of their lives, and there was always something that indicated that they were not only best friends. Then, before slipping into the dark, she remembered Stitch's answer to her question of why he had risked giving up his life for her.

"_He makana ke aloha…"_

That was what it had been. A gift of love.


End file.
